Memorial Day and Firefly (zoid post) by zoid

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Memorial Day and Firefly (zoid post)

POSTED BY: ZOID
UPDATED: Tuesday, June 1, 2004 06:05
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Sunday, May 30, 2004 7:08 PM

Greetings, fellow Browncoats!

Today, Monday, May 31st, is Memorial Day. Memorial Day means many and various things to different people. For some, it is a paid day off, and the harbinger of a foreshortened workweek. For others, it’s the first holiday of the school year’s summer vacation. For me, Memorial Day is exceeded in importance only by Christmas and Easter. Since an integral part of Firefly is wrapped in the sacrifices made in the name of ideological conflict, of War, I will presume upon your good will and offer a monologue on the meaning of Memorial Day.

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. That’s the true meaning of Memorial Day. It is a sacred day – truly a ‘holy’ day – of remembrance of all those patriots who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we enjoy as Americans; not to mention the freedoms many others the world over likewise enjoy. It is a day to reflect upon the sacrifices made by American soldiers and their families, in order that Liberty’s flame would not be extinguished. It is a day to remember the Minutemen of Concord and Marion’s ghostly guerillas of the South Carolina swamps. A day to remember the men of ‘Old Hickory’ Jackson who repelled an English force at New Orleans after the armistice had been signed to end Europe’s final armed invasion of American soil, a conflagration that saw the White House and Capitol burned.

It is a day to remember the fallen on both sides of the ideological gulf that separated us during our Civil War; a day to remember the Buffalo Soldiers, Code Talkers and Nisei. It is a day to remember ‘Old Ironsides’, the USS Constitution, the Monitor and Merrimack, the Maine, the Arizona, and the Cole. It is a day to remember American airmen who enlisted in the RAF before our country’s declaration of war, to remember Chennault’s Flying Tigers in China, the Tuskegee Airmen, and the 8th Air Force’s daylight bombing raids flown into withering air defenses.

It is a day to remember the war dead, the widowed wives and fatherless children of those who died in anonymity, in unknown places: Saint-Mihiel and St. Lo, the Ardennes, Messina, Ploieşti and the beaches of Normandy. It is a day of remembrance for those who lost their lives in Bataan, the Aleutians, Leyte and Iwo Jima. It is a day to consider the ushering in of the Nuclear Age, as a single ‘special bomb’ fell from high altitude over Hiroshima. The scientists had underestimated its destructive power by a factor of ten; hence, no one had a true comprehension of the magnitude of such a blast, until the aftermath saw an entire city of human beings erased from existence, as glimpsed from the cockpit of a plane named after the mission commander’s mother. Nevertheless, this single act saved an estimated 500,000 American fighting men and twice that many Japanese men, women and children, who would have fought to the last to repel an American invasion, and defend their God Emperor.

It is a day to remember those who valiantly gave their lives at Busan and Incheon. It is a day to remember those who fought and died at Pork Chop Hill, during the Tet Offensive and the Linebacker and Rolling Thunder campaigns. It is a day to remember those who fought and died to secure the freedom of the peoples of Grenada, Panama, Kuwait, the Balkans, Ethiopia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

These men and women, in the main, did not seek fame and glory. Not many were Yorks or Murphys, Tibbetses or Pattons. The overwhelming majority were simple folk, of differing economic, ideological, religious and ethnic backgrounds. But they all had one thing in common: They were true Americans, who died defending their homes and families. Because they did – and still do – we yet have a home in which to raise our families. So, as you go about the day’s festivities with your loved ones, remember those who risked everything, and those who lost everything, who died as free men in defense of the American Ideal. On this day of remembrance, please take a moment to remember.

For me, nothing is more poignant – not even the birth of my children or the death of my father – as my memory of hearing ‘Taps’ played at the end of day, from my tower catwalk. I often wept, unashamed, as I felt the staggering burden of honor force me to the fervent prayer that I would not disgrace those fallen Americans’ investment in my freedom.
_______________________________________

For those who have been following along, please find the finale of my ‘future quotes’ taglines, below. As much as I would like to claim genius of foresight (or at least, artful planning) when I began these nine weeks ago, I had no conscious inkling at the time that they would terminate on Memorial Day, not even as I constructed the last one as late as 5 weeks ago. The timing is strictly serendipitous, even though the message is relevant to the meaning underlying Memorial Day. God works in mysterious ways, and so does my mind, His creation…

Solemnly,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"I knew a man once. History will never recall him, or what he gave to make us free. That's the way he wanted it. But as long as I live I'll remember, and he'll never truly die."

- River, from A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence Wilkins, Richard

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Sunday, May 30, 2004 7:27 PM

GUNHAND

Zoid, I don't even think I can add anything to that that wouldn't sound silly. But man, I'm misty eyed for reading it.

The one thing that struck me today was when I went to the cemetary to put flowers on my family's graves was how few other ones had flowers on them. It made me sad, and a little bit angry. There are graves there that go back to the Civil War, headstones carved with regiments and divisions from that war all the way through this one and except for the flags that the (veteran) caretaker makes sure are on each veteran's stone it was as if hardly anyone cared, hardly any flowers at all.

Some people laugh at our ancestors and older folks, the traditions they cling to. I had friends in college call my grandmother "quaint" when they met her. Even I thought some of her little quirks were odd, but I never said anything and finally I wound up understanding. People like to think they're "modern" and "progressive" and they make the mistake that some generations past made, they just simply think they're better, know better and are smarter than those that came before them.

But when I stood in that little small town cemetary, and saw all those flags, hell at least 1/4 of the cemetary has a veteran's flag on the stone, this little town gave a lot of blood for our country, lots of small towns are like that; but so few flowers...

It makes me wonder if maybe we all wouldn't be better off if people were just a tad less progressive, just a smidgen less superior feeling and a mite bit more willing to say,"You know some traditions are good things."

Anyhow, that's my feelings and thoughts on it. Can't add any more to what you said about the day itself because it was near perfect. Thank you.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"

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Monday, May 31, 2004 1:48 AM

DELIA

Zoid,

Nothing to add (what could I add?) but thanks for saying it. It needed said. And it needed said this well.

Delia

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Monday, May 31, 2004 5:53 AM

JASONZZZ

Thanks.

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Monday, May 31, 2004 7:46 AM

DARKARCHON

Very well said Zoid. I watched the dedication ceremony of the WWII veterans memorial yesterday on the History Channel, it was very powerful. It is truly awesome to think of the sacrifices so many have made for my freedom. I am humbled.

May our flag always fly proudly and our soldiers never waver.

-Tyler

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Monday, May 31, 2004 10:39 AM

HERO

Quote:
Originally posted by DarkArchon:
Very well said Zoid. I watched the dedication ceremony of the WWII veterans memorial yesterday on the History Channel, it was very powerful. It is truly awesome to think of the sacrifices so many have made for my freedom. I am humbled.

I agree. At church this weekend the Pastor asked the church to remeber those who have fallen or served or are serving. She began by mentioning her father's name, then calling the name of everyone in attendence who served. Most of the men had served in WW2, Korea, or Vietnam. Then everyone started naming names. It went on for quite a while. A simple and beautiful tribute.

But I think memorial day isn't just about those who served in the military. Its all of us who choose to serve this great nation. Its Mom's, Dad's, and children left behind. Its those who build and rebuild, make safe and carry on in this blessed land. We are a free nation and we give hope to the world and strike fear into the hearts of those who would terrorize and oppress.

So they have my thanks. Here's to the nation builders, the defenders of liberty, and our children yet to come.

H

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Tuesday, June 1, 2004 6:05 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Very eloquently put Zoid. I must admit you have quite the knack for aptly putting into writing thoughts and observations that stir emotion or cause one to think on the subject matter at hand.

Being a vet, and coming from a long line of vets that we can trace back all the way to the Revolutionary War, Memorial Day has a very special meaning in our family. Our family keeps a scrap book with pictures, newspaper clippings, names, units, letters home, and momentos from the our family members who served. Some of the artifacts in that huge book date from the War of Northern Aggression and it gives us a link to the past and the sacrifices those men and women made for this country and their families.

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

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